Innovating Pedagogy 2017: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. Open University Innovation Report 6

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This sixth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Learning In a NetworKed Society (LINKS) Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE). Themes: • Big-data inquiry: thinking with data • Learners making science • Navigating post-truth societies • Immersive learning • Learning with internal values • Student-led analytics • Intergroup empathy • Humanistic knowledge-building communities • Open Textbooks • Spaced Learnin

On the Scope of Digital Vocabulary Trainers for Learning in Distance Education

This study explores the use of digital vocabulary trainers (DVTs) for L1 (first/native language) - L2 (second/foreign language) paired associate vocabulary learning in the context of distance learning and where students are mature adult learners. The literature review approaches the topic from three different angles: firstly, what is involved in vocabulary learning in terms of memory processes, learning strategies and motivation to learn. Secondly, it was investigated how computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and in particular, use of DVTs, can support the learning of vocabulary and lastly, the role the specific learning context of distance education plays where vocabulary learning is concerned. To set the context, the study outlines the capabilities of different DVTs and how these are linked to theoretical frameworks, how distance learners engage with DVTs, to what extent vocabulary learning with and without DVTs differs and what students’ preferences for particular features of DVTs are. The research is based on a quasi-experimental study to explore the scope and limitations of DVTs used by adult distance learners at the Open University in the UK. A mix of methods was utilised, generating both quantitative and qualitative data. After participating in a trial use of DVT for beginners’ German, Open University language learners participated in a number of surveys investigating the way in which they engage with DVTs, whether there is any indication that the use of these tools improves performance and how students perceive DVTs as learning tools. Additional surveys investigated the general attitude of distance language students to DVTs, and focus groups were formed from students using DVTs for study. Data from these focus groups show that mechanisms typically employed in game playing (e.g. points, badges, leader boards) can have a positive effect on motivation for learning. It is therefore concluded that a review of current pedagogy may be useful and that new approaches to more integrated vocabulary training could have positive effects on language learners

Enhancing English Vocabulary Acquisition of Colombian High School Students Through Vocabulary Learning Techniques, Mobile Apps, and Web 2.0 Technologies

Apendices A, B, C Y D. 1 Tabla, y 2 FigurasEl aprendizaje del inglés es una prioridad para muchos sistemas de educación en el mundo debido al estatus del inglés como lengua internacional de comunicación. Hablar inglés hoy en día le permite a la gente de diversas culturas interactuar, abre oportunidades a las personas y contribuye al desarrollo económico de una nación. Es por eso que el Ministerio de Educación Nacional (MEN) busca promover el aprendizaje del inglés a través de currículos y planes, sin embargo, debido al bajo nivel de inglés de los estudiantes de secundaria, estimado en A2 (Semana 2020) el objetivo no se ha cumplido, por lo tanto, los maestros deben encontrar maneras de mejorar el inglés de los estudiantes. Además, autores como Nation y Waring (1997) y Arévalo y Diaz (2016) han demostrado un vínculo entre el vocabulario y las competencias en inglés, y Nation (2001) ha establecido un umbral de 2000 palabras para hablar inglés y de 9000 palabras para la comprensión de lectura. En consecuencia, el principal objetivo de esta monografía es investigar estrategias, métodos, aplicaciones móviles y herramientas web para aprender vocabulario y presentar sus principales características y retos para que los maestros las implementen en las aulas y las compartan con sus estudiantes y así impulsar el aprendizaje del inglés. Luego de una profunda investigación se estableció que métodos The Keyword Method, The Direct Translation and L1-L1 pairing, The Pictorial Method, Graphic Organizers, The Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy, The 4 Strands, y Contextual Learning, y aplicaciones móviles como Memrise, Duolingo, WordUp, y Busuu promueven el aprendizaje del inglés y pueden servir a los maestros para alcanzar el objetivo de mejorar el inglés de sus estudiantes si ellos las usan en las actividades diarias en la escuela.English proficiency is a top priority in many education systems around the world due to the status of English as the international language for communication. Speaking English today allows people from different cultures to interact, opens opportunities for individuals, and contributes to a nation’s economic development, because of this, in Colombia the Ministry of Education (MEN) promotes English learning through national plans and curricula, however, due to the low English proficiency of public high school students in Colombia near graduation, estimated as an A2 level (Semana, 2020), the objective has not been reached yet, therefore, teachers need to figure out ways to help students improve their English level. What is more, there is a direct relationship between vocabulary knowledge and general English proficiency noted by authors like Nation and Waring (1997) and Arévalo and Diaz (2016), with Nation (2001) estimating a 2,000 words threshold necessary to speak English as a second language and another of 9,000 words for reading comprehension. Consequently, the main aim of this monograph is to investigate web tools, mobile apps, strategies and methods for English vocabulary learning and present their main characteristics and challenges for teachers so that they implement them in the classrooms and share them with their students to boost their English skills, Following thorough scrutiny of the reviewed literature, it was established that methods like The Keyword Method, The Direct Translation and L1-L1 pairing, The Pictorial Method, Graphic Organizers, The Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy, The 4 Strands, and Contextual Learning, and apps like Memrise, Duolingo, WordUp, and Busuu promote vocabulary learning and can help teachers achieve the aim of improving their students' English proficiency through vocabulary learning if they are used in the everyday English learning activities at schools

Step into My Mind Palace:Exploration of a Collaborative Paragogy Tool in VR

Virtual Reality (VR) can mediate remote collaborative learning and can support pedagogical processes like paragogy. Within education, methods such as spaced repetition and memory palaces exist to support the cognitive process of remembering. We identify an opportunity to enhance learner-led collaborative paragogy involving these methods through immersive VR experiences. We present CleVR, a VR-mediated collaboration-based system that supports the memory palace and spaced repetition techniques. As an exploratory study, we aim to identify the applicability, viability and user perception for such a system combining these two techniques in VR. CleVR is a novel implementation which provides a location-driven metaphor to populate and present multiple resources related to a topic for peer-led exploration. We discuss the design and provide a prototype implementation of CleVR. We conducted two studies, a targeted expert user review and a broader proof of concept survey. The results of the studies show interesting outcomes, with the system described as ‘engaging’, ‘useful’ and ‘fun’. Our findings provide insights to the potential of using Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLE) geared towards collaborative learner-led activities

COMPARING BREAK TYPES FOR SPACED PRACTICE IN A PLATFORMER GAME

The progressive development of in-game skills is important to both game players and designers. Players want to get better at games, while designers want to understand and support player progress. These goals align as skill development leads to heightened player performance, which is associated with positive player experiences. When players gain skill at a consistent pace, they tend to enjoy the game more. One promising area of research relates to the spaced practice effect (i.e., taking intentional breaks between periods of doing an activity). Spaced practice has been shown to improve skills in domains unrelated to digital games, such as athletics, and learning. Spaced practice refers to taking consistent breaks between periods of doing an activity. While there is some research into the area of spaced practice in games, it is unclear if the benefits of spaced practice apply in complex games that combine several skills and elements. If the goal of players and designers is to increase the overall quality of the player experience, there are also several issues with forcing the player to take breaks. For example, most players do not like gameplay sessions being interrupted. Taking breaks serves as an interruption to gameplay, and could potentially hinder the player experience. However, games often contain some natural rest periods—if breaks were implemented into the gameplay itself, players may be able to benefit from the spaced practice effect and not have their game interrupted. Some ecologically valid break-like activities are already present in games that could allow for spaced practice (e.g., cutscenes, mini-games, leaderboards, loading screens). Before designers can implement activities as breaks for spaced practice, we first need to know whether engaging with these activities as breaks reduces the benefits of spaced practice. We built a custom 2D platform game in which a player controlled avatar can wall-jump, swing, via a grapple hook and double-jump through an obstacle course. This game was used as the core gameplay activity in two experiments—one to test if spaced practice improves performance in a complex game, and another to determine how spaced practice is affected by the choice of in-game break activity. Through these experiments, we evidence that spaced practice significantly improves skill development in a complex platformer game; that spaced practice is effective across several types of ecologically-valid break activities; and that the use of short breaks does not subvert flow states during play. This supports that the use of spaced practice in games is beneficial. We further contribute some design guidelines for how to implement break activities

Designing intelligent support for learning from and in everyday contexts

Motivation and engagement in learning benefit from a good match of learning settings and materials to individual learner contexts. This includes intrinsic context factors such as prior knowledge and personal interests but also extrinsic factors such as the current environment. Recent developments in adaptive and intelligent technology enable the personalisation of context-aware learning. For example, computer vision algorithms, machine translation, and Augmented Reality make it possible to support the creation of meaningful connections between learners and their context. However, for successful adoption in everyday life, these technologies also need to consider the learner experience. This thesis investigates the design of personalised context-aware learning experiences through the lens of ubiquitous and self-directed language learning as a multi-faceted learning domain. Specifically, it presents and discusses the design, implementation, and evaluation of technology support for learning in and from learners’ everyday contexts with a strong focus on the learner perspective and user experience. The work is guided by four different roles that technology can take on in context-aware ubiquitous learning: For enhancing learning situations, it can (1) sense and (2) trigger in learners’ everyday contexts. For enhancing learning contents, it can (3) augment activities and (4) generate learning material from learner everyday contexts. With regards to the sensing role, the thesis investigates how learners typically use mobile learning apps in everyday contexts. Activity and context logging, combined with experience sampling, confirm that mobile learning sessions spread across the day and occur in different settings. However, they are typically short and frequently interrupted. This indicates that learners may benefit from better integrating learning into everyday contexts, e.g. by supporting task resumption. Subsequently, we explore how this integration could be supported with intelligent triggers linked to opportune moments for learning. We conceptualise and evaluate different trigger types based on interaction patterns and context detection. Our findings show that simple interactions (e.g. plugging in headphones) are promising for capturing both availability and willingness to engage in a learning activity. We discuss how similar interaction triggers could be adapted to match individual habits. In the area of enhancing learning contents, we first investigate how enjoyable everyday activities could be augmented for learning without disrupting these activities. Specifically, we assess the learner experience with interactive grammar support in e-readers and adapted captions for audio-visual media. Participants in our studies felt that the learning augmentations successfully supported their learning process. The information load of the learning support should match the learners’ current needs to maintain the activity flow. Learners may need encouragement to opt for novel concepts optimised for learning (e.g. time-synchronised captions) rather than sticking to habits (e.g. standard captions). Next, the thesis explores learner needs and preferences in generating their own personalised learning material from their context. We design and evaluate automated content generation methods that generate learning opportunities from objects in the learner’s environment. The connection to the learner’s context is established with state-of-the-art technology, such as object detection and Augmented Reality. Through several user studies, we show that learning performance and engagement with auto-generated personalised learning material is comparable to predefined and manually generated content. Findings further indicate that the success of personalisation depends on the effort required to generate content and whether the generation results match the learner’s expectations. Through the different perspectives examined in this thesis, we provide new insights into challenges and opportunities that we synthesise in a framework for context-aware ubiquitous learning technology. The findings also have more general implications for the interaction design of personalised and context-aware intelligent systems. Notably, for the auto-generation of personalised content, it is essential to consider not only correctness from a technological perspective but also how users may perceive the results.Lernmotivation und Engagement profitieren davon, wenn Lernumgebungen und Lernmaterialien auf den individuellen Kontext der Lernenden abgestimmt sind. Dieser umfasst sowohl intrinsische Faktoren wie Vorkenntnisse und persönliche Interessen, aber auch extrinsische Faktoren wie die aktuelle Umgebung. Aktuelle Weiterentwicklungen im Bereich adaptiver und intelligenter Technologien ermöglichen es, Lernen kontextbewusst zu personalisieren. So können mithilfe von Computer-Vision-Algorithmen, maschineller Übersetzung und Augmented Reality sinnvolle Verknüpfungen zwischen Lernenden und ihrem Kontext geschaffen werden. Allerdings müssen diese Technologien für einen erfolgreichen Einsatz im Alltag auch die Lernerfahrung mit einbeziehen. Diese Arbeit untersucht die Gestaltung personalisierter kontextbewusster Lernerfahrungen aus der Perspektive des ubiquitären und self-directed Learning im Sprachenlernen, einem vielseitigen Lernbereich. Insbesondere wird die Konzeption, Implementierung und Evaluierung von Technologieunterstützung für das Sprachenlernen in und aus dem Alltagskontext der Lernenden vorgestellt und diskutiert, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Perspektive der Lernenden und der Nutzererfahrung liegt. Die Arbeit orientiert sich an vier verschiedenen Rollen, die Technologie im kontextbewussten Lernen einnehmen kann. Um Lernsituationen anzureichern, kann Technologie im Alltagskontext von Lernenden (1) erfassen und (2) auslösen. Um Lerninhalte anzureichern, kann Technologie aus dem Alltagskontext (3) Aktivitäten augmentieren und (4) Inhalte generieren. Im Hinblick auf die erfassende Rolle von Technologie wird in dieser Arbeit untersucht, wie die Lernenden mobile Lern-Apps in alltäglichen Kontexten nutzen. Die Aufzeichnung von Aktivitäten und Kontexten in Kombination mit Experience Sampling bestätigt, dass Lerneinheiten im mobilen Lernen über den Tag verteilt sind und in verschiedenen Umgebungen stattfinden. Allerdings sind sie in der Regel kurz und werden häufig unterbrochen. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die Lernenden von einer besseren Integration des Lernens in ihren Alltagskontext profitieren könnten, z. B. durch Unterstützung des Wiedereinstiegs nach einer Unterbrechung. Anschließend untersuchen wir, wie diese Integration durch intelligente Trigger unterstützt werden könnte, die mit passenden Lernzeitpunkten verknüpft sind. Wir konzipieren und evaluieren verschiedene Arten von Triggern auf Basis von Interaktionsmustern und Kontexterkennung. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass einfache Interaktionen (z. B. das Einstecken von Kopfhörern) vielversprechend dafür sind, sowohl die Verfügbarkeit als auch die Bereitschaft für eine Lernaktivität zu erfassen. Wir diskutieren, wie ähnliche Interaktionstrigger an individuelle Gewohnheiten angepasst werden können. Im Bereich der Augmentierung von Lerninhalten untersuchen wir zunächst, wie unterhaltsame Alltagsaktivitäten für das Lernen aufbereitet werden können, ohne diese Aktivitäten zu beeinträchtigen. Konkret bewerten wir die Lernerfahrung mit interaktiver Grammatikunterstützung in E-Readern und angepassten Untertiteln für audiovisuelle Medien. Die Teilnehmer:innen unserer Studien fanden, dass die Lernunterstützung ihren Lernprozess erfolgreich förderte. Die Informationslast im Lernsystem sollte auf die aktuellen Bedürfnisse der Lernenden angepasst werden, damit das Flow-Erlebnis nicht beeinträchtigt wird. Die Lernenden brauchen möglicherweise Ermutigung dafür, sich für neuartige, lernoptimierte Konzepte zu entscheiden (z. B. zeitsynchrone Untertitel), anstatt an Gewohnheiten festzuhalten (z. B. Standarduntertitel). Als Nächstes werden in dieser Arbeit die Bedürfnisse und Präferenzen der Lernenden bei der Erstellung ihres eigenen personalisierten Lernmaterials aus ihrem Kontext untersucht. Insbesondere werden Methoden zur automatischen Generierung von Inhalten entwickelt und evaluiert, die Lernmöglichkeiten aus Objekten in der Umgebung des Lernenden generieren. Die Verbindung zum Kontext des Lernenden wird durch aktuelle Technologien wie Objekterkennung und Augmented Reality hergestellt. Wir zeigen anhand mehrerer Nutzerstudien, dass die Lernleistung und das Engagement bei automatisch personalisiertem Lernmaterial mit vordefinierten und manuell erstellten Inhalten vergleichbar sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen außerdem, dass der Erfolg der Personalisierung vom Aufwand abhängt, der für die Erstellung der Inhalte erforderlich ist, und davon, ob die generierten Materialien den Erwartungen der Lernenden entsprechen. Die verschiedenen Perspektiven, die in dieser Arbeit untersucht werden, bieten neue Einblicke in Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten, die wir in einem Framework für kontextbewusste ubiquitäre Lerntechnologie zusammenfassen. Die Ergebnisse haben auch allgemeinere Auswirkungen auf die Gestaltung der Interaktion mit personalisierten und kontextbewussten intelligenten Systemen. Beispielsweise ist es bei der automatischen Generierung personalisierter Inhalte wichtig, nicht nur die Korrektheit aus technologischer Sicht zu berücksichtigen, sondern auch, wie die Nutzer die Ergebnisse wahrnehmen

Technology and Vocabulary

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the most important components of L2 proficiency (Schmitt, 2010). At the same time, the acquisition of L2 vocabulary is particularly challenging because it is item-based as opposed to rule-based acquisition of grammar. That is to say that vocabulary items (words and multiword units) need to be learned one-by-one, which requires repeated exposure and practice. Furthermore, learners need to be actively engaged with the target lexical items for them to be committed to memory and eventually acquired. With the exponential growth of technological applications for L2 learning in recent years, many tools and methods have come to the aid of learners by increasing both the frequency of exposure and the level of engagement

正規外国語教育における教育媒体としてのシングルプレイヤーRPG

京都大学新制・課程博士博士(人間・環境学)甲第24301号人博第1057号新制||人||248(附属図書館)2022||人博||1057(吉田南総合図書館)京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻(主査)准教授 PETERSON Mark, 准教授 中森 誉之, 教授 勝又 直也, 教授 FIELD Malcolm Henry学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Human and Environmental StudiesKyoto UniversityDFA